Moon lovers, rejoice! Tonight’s full Moon will be in view longer than any other full Moon of the year – the Long-Night Moon.

The full Moon lines up opposite the Sun, so it does just the opposite of what the Sun does in the daytime sky. The winter solstice – the shortest day of the year – is just a week away, so the Sun is putting in its most feeble appearance` of the year. It rises late, sets early, and scoots low across the south during the day. So the full Moon does just the opposite – it rises around sunset, climbs high across the sky during the night, and sets around sunrise.

The difference is more dramatic as you go farther north. San Antonio, for example, will see about two-and-a-half hours more moonlight than sunlight. But from Seattle, the difference is about seven hours – ten-and-a-half hours of sunlight, followed by seventeen-and-a-half hours of moonlight – a long night to watch the silvery glow of the full Moon.

And as you watch the Moon, look for some bright companions around it. The brilliant planet Jupiter stands to the right of the Moon at nightfall. The star Aldebaran, the bright “eye” of Taurus, the bull, is about the same distance to the right of Jupiter. And the star Elnath, the tip of one of the bull’s horns, is closer to the lower left of the Moon. The Moon will slide especially close to Elnath a few hours later – adding to the beauty of a long night of moonlight.

Script by Damond Benningfield